It is learnt that Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest carmaker, is seriously exploring the use of Ro-Ro (roll-on-roll-off) transportation services between Kolkata and Varanasi in a bid to reduce its logistics costs.

It is understood that while inland water transport costs around 60 paise a kilometre, transportation by rail costs Rs 1 per kilometre and Rs 1.50 by road. It will also help unclog arterial roads in the country.

Inland Water Transport (IWT) is recognised as a cost effective, fuel efficient, environment-friendly and safe mode of transport especially for hazardous goods and over-dimensional cargo.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been recently signed between the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Maruti Suzuki India for transportation of cars on a pilot basis through inland waterways. Cars are proposed to be transported from Varanasi to Kolkata on National Waterway-1 as a pilot run which is scheduled to commence on August 12. The requirement of logistic support for rolling in/out of cars from the vessels to shore and vice-versa has been done in a trial run at Kolkata. 

As per a RITES report of 2014 on ‘Integrated National Waterways Transportation Grid (INWTG)’, the use of inland water transport compared to conventional rail and road transportation are that one litre of fuel moves 24 tonne-km on road, 95 tonne-km on rail and 215 tonne-km on IWT. Also, the cost of developing waterways is much lower than rail or road. 

Maruti cars on board two ro-ro carriers

On August 12, Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, will lay the foundation stone of the Multi-Modal Terminal at Varanasi. He will also flag off the trial run of two cargo vessels from Varanasi on this occasion. 

The two vessels – MV Joy Basudev (capacity 1,400 tons) and MV V V Giri (capacity 300 tons) – containing newly assembled cars of Maruti Suzuki and construction material, respectively will be flagged off from the Aghoreshwar Bhagwan Ram Ghat Varanasi at 11am on August 12. The occasion will also be marked by the laying of the foundation stone of the Multi-Modal Terminal at Ramnagar in Varanasi at 12.30pm. 

Construction of Phase I of the Multi-Modal Terminal at Varanasi, at an estimated cost of Rs 170 crore, is likely to be completed by August 2018. The terminal will have road and rail connectivity with proposed links on NH-7 and Jeonathpur Railway station respectively. 

The cargo handling capacity of the terminal on completion of Phase 1 is estimated to be 1.2 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA). It will have facilities including berthing space for two vessels simultaneously, storage area, transit shed and parking areas, among others. The terminal will also have a floating jetty for passenger transportation. 

National Waterway-1 (NW-1) is being developed under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, with assistance from the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs 4,200 crore. The project would enable commercial navigation of vessels with capacity of 1500-2,000 DWT Tonnage from Varanasi to Haldia. 

NW-1 is a waterway of national significance passing through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, potentially serving the major cities of Haldia, Howrah, Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Patna, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Allahabad and their industrial hinterlands including several industries located along the Ganga basin. The rail and road corridors of this region are already saturated. Hence, the development of NW-1 would result in a viable economical, efficient and eco-friendly mode of transport and huge quantities of cargo can be transported thereby helping in economic development of this region.